Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science, announced
today that The Scientist magazine named two of its CRISPR-Cas9
genome editing tools among the Top 10 Innovations of 2016. The
Invitrogen LentiArray CRISPR libraries, introduced in September 2016,
ranked #5, while the GeneArt Platinum Cas9 Nuclease earned the #10 spot
on the list.

The CRISPR-Cas9 system is a powerful tool for making new discoveries
about gene function and is part of Thermo Fisher’s expanding portfolio
of precision medicine solutions. For its new LentiArray CRISPR
libraries, Thermo Fisher is capitalizing on the power of CRISPR-Cas9
technology for high throughput applications for functional genomics
screening. The arrayed CRISPR libraries give researchers a new set of
tools to rapidly identify key therapeutic targets and understand complex
biological pathways. In addition, Thermo Fisher’s highly purified
GeneArt Platinum Cas9 Nuclease in its ribonucleoprotein (RNP)
formulation significantly simplifies the cell engineering workflow by
eliminating Cas9 transcription and translation in the cell to achieve
high cleavage efficiencies while minimizing off-target cleavage.

“Thermo Fisher’s synthetic biology initiative is committed to providing
value-adding product designs in high-technology life science areas like
genome editing,” said Helge Bastian, vice president and general manager
of synthetic biology for Thermo Fisher Scientific. “The newly introduced
CRISPR libraries will allow customers to completely knockout entire
panels of genes, increasing both the quality and the efficiency of their
screening experiments. Our easy-to-use formats of the two most relevant
genome editing technologies, TALEN and CRISPR-Cas9, will enable even
less experienced users to leverage these highly enabling technologies to
gain insights into molecular pathways and gene function in their fields
of research.”

LentiArray CRISPR libraries are designed to maximize knockout of the
target genes without compromising specificity. The libraries are also
designed to be a flexible system that can adapt to the needs of a wide
variety of researchers, and they are already being used to discover
potentially groundbreaking treatments.

“The LentiArray CRISPR libraries have allowed us to make significant
inroads in our research on pediatric cancer, discovering a potentially
novel strategy for the treatment of deadly brain tumors,” said Simone
Treiger Sredni M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of pediatric
neurosurgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
“Through the use of lenti-viral CRISPR-Cas9 particles, we identified an
enzyme that can be inhibited by drugs and has been shown to prohibit
tumor cell growth without affecting normal cells.”

“We interacted with many scientists during the development of the
LentiArray libraries product line and they confirmed that
high-efficiency knockout of the target genes was absolutely critical,”
said Jon Chesnut, senior director of R&D for genome editing at Thermo
Fisher. “These same scientists said it was equally important that we
build a platform adaptable for use with a wide variety of cellular
models and assays. Therefore, we made sure that we looked at every
aspect of the LentiArray platform to ensure we’re providing researchers
with a highly potent and flexible system.”

“We are proud that two of the latest additions to our expanding
portfolio of genome editing tools are being recognized among the top
innovations of 2016. Together with our existing portfolio of RNA
interference (RNAi) with Silencer, Silencer Select and mirVana RNAi
libraries, Thermo Fisher offers an industry leading portfolio of
functional genomics tools that enable our customers to make further
progress in understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying normal
cellular processes and the on-set and progression of disease states,”
added Bastian.

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